I've Got the Magic in Me
by Moon'sMistress
Summary: If you had told me a week ago that I would be half-naked, covered in mud, and running from a giant bird woman, I would have told you that you needed to be put in a pretty padded room. Now I would much like to be in my own padded room and away from the gorgeous guy who I'd like to punch in the throat for getting me into this mess. Dear Gods, it's me, Zinnia.
1. Chapter 1

~Zinnia~

"Running should be listed under cruel and unusual punishment." I panted as I struggled to keep up with the long graceful strides of my best-friend, Gemma, who looked as if she could continue running for hours and not even break a sweat. Bitch.

"You should lay off the brownies and choose more healthy food, like spinach." Gemma replied as she always did. I made a face and tried not to trip over my ugly gym shoe laces that had somehow come undone.

"You're just jealous because you're mom doesn't allow you to partake of the chocolaty food of the gods." I laughed, or attempted to laugh. It really came out as embarrassing wheezes. Gemma rolled her large brown eyes at me, as she picked up and even more ungodly pace.

"Come on Gem. I was only kidding. Slow down!" I whined as I pushed the river of sweat from my forehead and hoped like hell I wouldn't kill over before I finished my ten laps. Nothing would be more embarrassing than face planting in front of the whole co-ed gym class. Again. Gemma chuckled lightly as she slowed down to a more reasonable, though still ungodly, pace, having the audacity to smooth back her smooth glistening black hair from her mocha face, while my own blonde waves no doubt stuck out at all angles while my bangs seemed to be glued to my no doubt tomato red face. Very attractive.

"You finished your reading assignment right?" Gem asked as we neared the finish line. Someone up there loved me!

"Of course not." I panted as I threw myself on the ground, wanting nothing more than to sink into the ground and sleep for a million years. A plague on the house of whoever decided P.E. should be considered a class.

"We're supposed to turn that in today you know?" Gemma scolded as she started her cool down stretches, her tight school issued gym shirt rising slightly to revel her new flower belly button ring.

"It's practically the end of the year Gem. I doubt Ms. Cooper will fail me now." I replied as our P.E. teacher, blew the whistle signaling it was time to start the main torture event.

"I know it's hard, but you should take school a little more seriously. You could have called me. I would have helped you." Gemma spoke softly as the teacher began talking about something unimportant. Gemma's words instantly made me feel bad. She knew about my trouble reading do to dyslexia, and I knew I could always ask her for help, but sometimes I felt useless and sick of myself when I did.

"I'm sorry Gemma." I apologized. She smiled before she hugged me tightly, not caring that I was grossly sweaty.

"We have a new student joining us today!" Mr. Turner yelled in that unnecessarily loud way he always yelled. That instantly got Gemma's attention. Here at our little backwoods school, we rarely got new students.

"He's pretty hot." She spoke as she raised up on her toes, her already long body allowing her to see over the heads of those in front of us. I took her word for it as I made a failed attempt to look at the front, but I was only five-five and that wasn't enough to look over the gigantic people ahead of me.

"This is Nicholas Forester! I want you all to be the nice kids I know you to be." Mr. Turner finished before announcing that we were going to play flag football. Great. More running.

"He hates me." I groaned as I followed Gemma to the front where we would be chosen to either join team Kevin or team Ashley.

"He does not hate you Z." Gem laughed as she nudged me with her elbow. I offered her a light smile before they began choosing teams. We were supposed to divide the boys and girls up evenly on the teams, but by the time only five of us were left, Ashley had mostly girls and Kevin had mostly guys. Granted most of the girls in my P.E. class were snobs and probably wanted nothing more than to go back to painting their nails in class and taking about how perfect their pig boyfriends were.

"Gemma!" Kevin called with a wink as she rolled her eyes at him. Kevin had been after Gemma since she came back two years ago with boobs and clear skin, but just about everyone knew about her boyfriend who lived in New York. I'd only ever seen pictures of him, but she reassured me he was 'fated to be with her forever'. Her words, not mine. I, personally, was not a fan of Kevin, and it had nothing to do with him thinking he was a sex-god. Okay, it did a little, but it mostly had to do with him spilling coke all over my favorite rolling stones tee, before attempting to mop up my boobs in the most pervy manner known to man. All in all, Kevin was a pervious ass-hat.

"Nicholas!" Ashley called with a giggle as she waved her perfectly French manicured fingers at the boy at the end of the really short row. Trust her to try and get into the pants of the new kid, though I could see why she would want too. He was rather tall with shaggy black hair that brushed the top of his deep brown eyes, and tanned skin. He was muscular, but in a lean athletic way, not the 'I may do steroids' way that a lot of the athletes here were. His shirt clung to his body and allowed the impression of sculpted abs, and his shorts revealed great calves.

"Zinnia!" Kevin called, smiling knowingly at me. I hated when people called me by my whole name. I rolled my eyes at him as I took my spot next to a smiling Gemma.

"Told you he was cute." She whispered as she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"He's okay." I mutter nonchalantly as I offered her a light shrug. The choosing ended with Fred, who wasn't really chosen but ended up on Kevin's team by default, which was to bad. Fred was actually really nice.

"I don't know why I even bother coming to class." Fred muttered as he hung his head in shame. I felt really sorry for him. Fred wasn't a bad looking kid. Sure he was on the lanky side, and his flaming curls could use a bit of a trimming, but he had nice blue eyes and a cute splash of freckles across his nose where his glasses rested.

"Don't say that Fred. P.E. may not be your thing but you're awesome in math class." I encouraged with a smile as I nudged him gently. He looked startled for a minute before he looked at me and smiled, his cheeks flushing scarlet.

"Thanks Zin." He replied, holding his head up a little higher.

"No problem. Talk to you in class." I called before I jogged to catch up with Gemma who was rushing onto the field.

"Seems Fred has a little crush on you." Gemma teased as the coach handed out our flags. We were team yellow while team Ashley was red. Kevin's friend, Marshal once suggested we do team shirts and team skins, but you can imagine that was a big fat no. Just goes to show that some guys are complete pigs.

"I doubt it." I laughed as I took my flag and began to buckle it around my waist, pleased to see that it was a little looser than at the beginning of the year.

"If you say so." She finished before the coach walked to the middle of the field with the coin.

"Kevin has chosen to defend." Coach Turner shouted; whatever the hell that meant.


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing but my OCs and the plot of this story. :)

~Zinnia~

Football was agonizing and put me in a rather bitchy mood. I was wheezing by the time we were finished, and I'm sure my face was akin to a lobster. I could practically feel how ugly my hair was and I'm sure I smelled lovely.

"Ms. Green." Mr. Turner called as everyone began to head to the locker rooms. I groaned lightly as Gemma offered up a sympathetic look before following the rest of the girls into the locker room. I turned to find the new kids standing beside uncertainly. I sighed lightly as I pushed strand of hair from my face, knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do about how ridiculous I looked at that moment.

"Yes Mr. Turner?" I asked as I stood, arms crossed and hip cocked in the I don't care attitude.

"Since Mr. Forester is new here, I was hoping you'd be kind enough to show him to his next class. I believe you have English with Ms. Cooper next, yes?" He asked, his voice still to loud to be normal, as he looked over to the new kid who was starting to get on my nerves with his staring. The new kids didn't answer, just nodded the affirmative. _Great, he's in my next class. _I groaned inwardly, hoping like hell I wouldn't be put on new kid duty.

"Sure Mr. Turner." I agreed, before turning and walking into the locker room, not bothering to tell the new kid to meet me outside of the gym doors. If he was smart, he'd figure it out, and if he wasn't, well that wasn't my problem.

"So you get to babysit the new kid? That's lucky." Gemma laughed as she towel dried her freshly washed hair while I attempted to wrangle a blow dryer and a rounded brush at the same time, not an ease thing to do while also trying to maneuver around the zombitches that tried to hog the large mirror.

"I don't want to be on new kid duty. I have enough trouble trying to get through the day without having to worry about keeping up with him. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll only have this torture session and English with me." I spoke, though I had this gut feeling that I was only fooling myself, which put me in a foul mood.

"It won't be so bad. Besides, he's totally eye candy, and since you've been single for like ever, it might do your lady parts good to see something worthy of drooling over." Gemma laughed as she began to apply eyeliner like a pro. I always ended up stabbing myself in the eyes when I tried to apply eyeliner, so I tried to avoid it like the plague.

"We are so not talking about my lady parts, and I haven't been single that long." I huffed as I finally got my hair decent looking and began to apply my minimal amount of make-up.

"It's been two years Z. I liked Stone to, but he's off at Michigan University studying who know what and it's time for you to move on." Gemma spoke gently as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I sighed deeply as I tried to ignore the ache in my heart. Stone and I had met at my Aunt's lake cabin the summer before my freshman year, and I was instantly smitten. He was perfect in almost every way. He was all lean muscle and large green eyes. His brown hair was a bit on the long side, and had been streaked with blonde, his smooth skin was deeply tanned thanks to many hours in the sun. He was intelligent and totally got all my weird quirks, and had a laugh that could melt ice. He moved to Michigan my junior year, and decided that it wouldn't work out do to the distance. I'd agreed and ever since then I couldn't help but place every guy I'd met on the pedestal next to him, and the new guy would always fall short.

"I know. I guess you're right. If Stone can move on, then so can I." I spoke determined. Gemma offered me a light smile as she smoothed down her snug fitting red top.

"So does this mean you'll give the new guy a chance?" Gemma asked as she helped me clasp my locket necklace.

"Not a chance, maybe I'll hit Fred up for a date." I laughed as I looked over my reflection in the mirror. I'd worn my super comfy red shirt with the word 'love' printed in large faded creamy letter and 'spread the word' written in curly pink letters under it. I'd paired this with my shredded light blue jean shorts and brown leather sandals. For the added girly touch I'd worn white feather earrings.

"Ya'll would be so cute together!" Gemma squealed as she batted her long feathered eyelashes at me.

"You have problems." I chuckled as I picked up my book bag and gym bag and followed her out of the locker room.


	3. Chapter 3

I own nothing but my OCs and the plot of this story.

~Nico~

I stood before a class full of curious faces and searching eyes, wanting nothing more than to just take a seat and hide behind my text book.

"So Nicholas, tell us a little bit about yourself." The overly excited English teacher, Ms. Cooper, spoke as she offered me a large smile. Heat flooded my face as I tried not to fidget. I didn't like being the center of attention.

"My dad is a construction worker, so we move around a lot. I was home-schooled in Washington before I came here." I lied easily, though my heart hammered in my chest. I could fight off a Minotaur, but when it came to speaking in front of a crowd I was helpless, it didn't help that the girls, Gemma and Zinnia, were whispering to each other while staring at me.

"That's wonderful. You can have a seat behind Zinnia." Ms. Cooper spoke with a large grin before she motioned for me to have a seat. I watched with mild amusement at the look of annoyance that crossed Zinnia's face as I took a seat in the empty desk behind her. She'd been giving me that look ever since I'd met her outside of the gym doors.

"Today class, since it's the last week before summer, we will do our last group project! We will be writing a short story. Each member of the group will add three sentences until it's done and we'll see what we get at the end. Please get into groups of four!" Ms. Cooper called as she clapped her hands for emphasis. I looked around nervously, wondering if anyone would want me in there group or not.

"Nicholas!" A girl from P.E. who was heavily made up called as she winked at me and waved me over. I groaned lightly as I stood up.

"You can join our group if you want." Gemma offered as a guy sat beside Zinnia, and nodded towards me.

"Is it okay with Zinnia?" I asked as I nodded towards the girl who was busying herself with doodling on the front of her notebook. She was quiet until Gemma kicked her.

"Yeah, I'd hate to subject you to the zombitches." She muttered before she went back to doodling. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took a seat in the last desk that they'd pulled together.

"Hey dude. I'm Leo." The guy greeted as he shook his long bangs from his eyes. He looked like a skater with his longish blonde hair that was hidden beneath a black and green Fox fitted hat . He wore a white and green DC shirt with black cargo shorts.

"Nice to meet you." I replied as I tried not to look at Zinnia who was busy glaring at Gemma who was smiling at her widely.

"So who wants to start this thing?" Gemma asked as she folded back the more plain cover of her notebook.

"I'll start." Leo spoke as he snatched up the notebook and began rapidly writing. It didn't take long before he was done as he handed Gemma back the notebook with a large grin and a wink. A smile pulled at my lips as Gemma tried to hide her laugh behind her hand, before she to contributed.

"Here you go." Gemma spoke with a smile as she handed me the notebook. I stared at the words nervously. I'd always had trouble reading thanks to my dyslexia, but I'd been practicing and was better at it. After a few minutes I'd gotten the reading done. The words read:

Leo: He watched, with equal parts amusement and fear, as what appeared to be a glittering goth fairy gyrated against a large teddy bear. It was a wonder that a teddy bear could grow a pair and attempt to get a little fairy action, the terrorist won if there couldn't be a little hot glittery californication. That was besides the point, because he was here on a mission that was as impossible as those of the ever daring Tom's.

Gemma: The Order was after him and if he wanted to survive, he would have to survive, he would have to ask for help from the most dark of places. He walked into a dark room, the thought of the glittering fairy and teddy bear at the far corners of his mind as he knocked three times on what appeared to the untrained eyes as nothing more than an ordinary white closet door. He waited with anxious nerves before the door slowly opened and provided him with a sight that he'd only seen in nightmares.

I read and found myself also trying to hide my laugh at Leo's wonderful imagery. I chewed on my lower lip as I tried to come up with something to write. _What the hell. Why not? _I thought before I put the pencil to paper and began to write.

Nico: Standing before him, in all of his dark glory, stood Hades himself. His muscular physique hidden beneath black leather pants and snug fitting Sex Pistols shirt. "So, you've come to beg for help in escaping, what I assume, would be a rather painful death?" Hades asked as a cold smile pulled at his lips and a fire lit behind dark eyes.

I smiled at my work, proud that I could come up with even that much, before I passed the notebook to a nervous looking Zinnia. I watched as she stared at the paper, nervously wringing her hands as her jaw clinched. I frowned lightly as a look of defeat crossed her face. I'd been so intent in my staring that I was a bit startled when Gemma stood up and walked over to squat beside the frustrated girl.

"You can do this Z. Just take your time and sound out the words." Gemma spoke softly so that no one that sat around us could hear. Zinnia offered up a soft smile before she nodded. _Can she not read? _I thought before my leg was nudged by Leo, who shoved a piece of paper my way. I picked it up and read:

Zin had dyslexia. It's hard for her to read. It's best not to stare.

I looked back up to see him looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I nodded before I tried to look anywhere but at Zinnia, thought I could hear her trying to sound out the words softly.

"He... wah-t-ched. Watched. He watched." Zinnia started as her cheeks caught fire and turned a beautiful shade of scarlet as she cast her eyes my way. I smile reassuringly at her as I nodded for her to continue. I found myself feeling somewhat connected to her as she continued her struggle, and that wasn't really something I needed at the moment.


	4. Chapter 4

~Zinnia~

My brain was bogged down with today's activities as I walked through the front door of My Aunt Rowen's house. A smile graced my lips as I picked up the scent of cinnamon and pumpkin spices. I walked quickly into the kitchen to see my aunt pulling a large tray of cookies from the cooling wrack beside the stove.

"They smell delicious." I spoke by way of greeting and I walked over and hugged my aunt tightly.

"Good to see you to dear." She laughed brightly before she kissed my head and motioned for me to wash my hands.

"How was school?" She asked as she put the cookies on a plate and fixed us two large glasses of milk. I smiled softly as I thought of the new guy and the way he was so cool about my difficulty reading. I'd thought he would make fun of me or something, but he'd confined in me with his own trouble reading.

"There's a new guy, Nicholas Forester." I spoke, getting to the 'juicy details' that my aunt loved to hear about. Her face brightened at the news as she brought the cookies and milk to the table and sat beside me.

"Oh? Is he cute?" She asked as she winked at me before biting into a cookie. I followed suit and bit down of the warm delicious slice of heaven. For as long as I can remember I've had the worlds worst sweet tooth.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute." I admitted as a blush took up residence on my cheeks. Her tinkling laughter sounded again as her blue eyes sparkled.

"Perhaps there is a love in your near future. Let's do a reading." She spoke happily before she stood up and rushed off to retrieve her tarot cards from her room. I smiled at her youthful antics. I'd come to live with my aunt when my dad died three years ago. She'd been only twenty one then and so full of life. She'd been a life saver when I was going down the dark path of grief. If she saw that I was falling into a state of depression she would do things to help, whether it was teaching me how to make a dream catcher, or taking me out for a day at the zoo, she'd always been right there to help.

"Here we are!" She sang as she twirled around in front of me, her patchwork cotton dress fanning out around her, before she plopped down in the chair in front of me.

"Choose three." She instructed as she fanned out the cards in front of me. I did as instructed before I handed the cards back to her. She flipped them over in front of me without looking, and her eyes grew wide with what appeared to be fear as she looked at them.

"What is it?" I asked as I looked at her with concern. She looked at me then as if really seeing me for the first time with she offered me a watery smile.

"Don't worry. I see a beautiful love in your future." She spoke before she stood up and began busying herself with cleaning up the kitchen. _Weird much? _I thought as I snatched up to more cookies and my milk before heading upstairs to my room. The look on my aunt's face still fresh in my mind.


	5. Chapter 5

~Zinnia~

"And she like totally freaked out." I finished as I walked beside Gemma to the auditorium where we were to sit through some sort of assembly that I had no idea would be about.

"Maybe it was all those sweets." Gemma laughed as she shrugged her shoulder. I rolled my eyes as I nudged her with my shoulder.

"Anyways, do you have any idea why we're being herded like cattle into the auditorium?" I asked as a change of subject as we entered the crowding auditorium. I scanned the room for Leo as I made sure to stand close to Gemma so that we wouldn't be separated.

"I think it's about the dance tomorrow night. There he is." Gemma spoke as she grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd to where Leo had saved us some seats. I found myself fighting a smile and a traitorous blush as I spotted Nicholas sitting beside him, my aunt's words still ringing in my ear.

"This dance must be something serious." Nicholas laughed as Gemma and I sat down. _Wait, dance? _

"Shit. The dance is this weekend?" I asked as I looked as Gemma with wide eyes. She looked at me as if I'd finally lost it.

"Yeah, you haven't noticed the flyers and puke worthy posters plastered all over school?" Gemma asked in that 'you're a mental case' way she did sometimes. I groaned lightly as I slumped down in my chair.

"You have a date right?" She asked as she tilted her head. I sighed deeply as I thought about it. Of course I didn't have a date. I haven't even thought about the damn dance!

"No." I sighed defeated as I looked over at her. She gave me a sympathetic look.

"I'm going with Leo, maybe you could ask Fred." She offered brightly, always the helper.

"I don't know." I spoke. I liked Fred, sure, but I didn't want to get his hopes up for no reason.

"What about Nicholas? You don't have a date right dude?" Leo asked Nicholas. _Someone please shoot me in the face._ I thought panicking as Nicholas looked at me and smiled.

"I just got here, I wasn't aware there was going to be a dance." He laughed warmly. Curse the Gods as butterflies took up residence in my stomach. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

"You want to go to the dance with me?" Nicholas asked. Was he blushing? No, I had to be imagining things.

"Of course she does!" Gemma answered for me happily as she nudged me and cast me a wink.

"Yeah." I laughed nervously.

"Great, I'm not big on these things so I'm not sure how they work. I'm supposed to match your dress right? Do you have a dress picked out?" He asked, a confused expression taking up reside on his tanned face.

"She'll be wearing red." Gemma offered up as I tried to remember if I had any dresses hanging up in my closet.

"Great. I like red." Nicholas laughed before the lights dimmed and Mr. Randall walked onto the stage.

"Sex, drugs, and alcohol!" He shouted, his voice silencing the room.

"Oh my god." Gemma giggled as Leo stuffed his fist against his mouth so his laugh wouldn't be heard. I smiled lightly at the look of utter horror on Nicholas' face.

"I know what goes on at dances. I was young once and I-, well that's a story for a later time. For the time being, we have a little video of some things to consider while you get ready for your night of fun and debauchery, so please pay attention." He boomed before a large screen descended from the ceiling, and Bex's 'Life of the Party' began playing. Laughter took up residence as a clip of what appeared to be a slice from a LMFAO video came up, before there was pictures of crashed cars and crying parents. The video lasted for about four minutes before it ended and I was left scared for life.

"I'll have nightmares about that video tonight." Gemma spoke as she shuttered.

"I need to wash my brain out now." Leo spoke with wide eyes.

"It was to much." Nicholas whispered as he hugged his waist. We walked quietly back to class after that, our minds now filled with images of crashed cars, torn apart bodies, and missing pictures.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't know about this." I sighed as I squeezed into another dress of Gemma's choosing. This was the seventh store and twentieth dress, and I was tired and hungry. I'd begged Gemma to let me get a cream cheese filled pretzel but she'd scolded me and told me that I couldn't try on dresses with a full stomach. How a pretzel could give me a full stomach was beyond me, but I digress.

"Come out and let me see." Gemma spoke before I walked out a offered her a hesitant smile.

"Oh my gosh. This is it! This is the dress!" Gemma squealed as she bounced and clapped her hands excitedly. I smiled with relief before I turned to look at myself in the three way mirrors. A gasp ripped from my lips as I looked at myself. The corset top hugged me snuggly and offered a view of sloping hourglass curves that I hadn't been aware I had, and made my reasonably sized chest look bigger than it really was. Red Silk and a shimmering sheer material made up a slightly poofed knee length skirt. I smiled as I looked at myself. I looked like a kick-ass princess.

"I have the perfect shoes for that dress." Gemma spoke as she looked up at me with large eyes.

"Nicholas won't know what hit him." She finished before she told me to go get dressed.

Nerves took over again as I sat in front of my vanity waiting for Gemma to finish up her make up in the bathroom. The butterflies that lived almost permanently in my stomach has grown and transformed into large angry dragons. I prayed that I wouldn't throw up.

"You ready?" Gemma asked as she entered my room with a large grin. She was gorgeous in her flowing pale blue gown. The silky material captured her breast with a silver braided chain. Silver heels adorned her feet, and she done her hair in large curls. Glittery white sparkled on her eyelids and she'd outlined her eyes in silver.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I sighed as I turned and stared at the collage of pictures that adorned my mirror.

"You nervous?" Gemma asked as she ran a brush through my hair while the curling iron warmed.

"Nervous is an under statement." I replied, as I tried not to let the dragons in my stomach get the best of me. She giggled as she parted my hair and clipped the extra strands out of the way.

"There's no need to be nervous you know. I see the way Nicholas looks at you." Gemma spoke with a reassuring smile, but her words offered little comfort.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I stammered as she began curling pieces of my hair, being careful not to burn my scalp or my ears.

"He totally checks you out when he doesn't think you're looking. It's rather adorable." She laughed. To her it might be adorable, but to me it made me even more nervous. I didn't like being stared at, especially when it was by a cute guy I barely knew.

Zinnia~


End file.
